Here is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in except that there used to be a large pantry where that wall area has been torn out. Our contractor built a new pantry right next to where the old pantry was located. This allowed for enough wall space to let us relocate a ten foot stretch of upper cabinets from the north wall to the west wall. And then we cut a big hole in the north wall to [...]

Here lady… let me draw you a little picture…

March 3rd, 2008

There have been several occasions during the construction of our farmhouse, that various men have made drawings for me. It is always a man, and it is always a very little drawing. Usually on a tiny scrap of paper.

They use these drawings as tools to try and explain some construction method to me, so that I can then use this wee little drawing to make a decision on some element of the house.

When I was trying to pick out our windows, a man, at the local lumber yard grabbed the pencil tucked behind his ear and drew something to explain something or other about how the window sat in the framing.

On numerous occasions, our general contractor has drawn a sketch for me on the side of the house or on a spare board, to try and show me how the siding or the window trim was going to look.

Even the cabinet maker has occasionally sketched a little something to try and make me understand how a certain corner cabinet might be affected by the cabinet next to it and why I might not want to put a drawer in that particular space.

All of these men are knowledgeable, hard working, decent people. I trust them with my house and my cabinets and my windows. I know they have skills and tools and abilities. But I could never understand a single one of their drawings.

I pretended that I could. I nodded my head and said “Oh!” or “I get it!” or “Yes, I understand now…” But it was a bald faced lie.

They may as well have been drawing pictures of a rocket launcher, for all the sense it made to me.